What you said about John Coates’ call to scrap planned Gabba rebuild

Brisbane’s controversial $2.7bn Gabba rebuild is dead, the entire Olympic plan appears on life support and officials are under the gun. JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Brisbane’s controversial $2.7bn Gabba rebuild is dead, the entire Olympic plan appears on life support and officials are under the gun.

That’s the long and short of the 2032 Games after Olympic powerbroker John Coates declared the Gabba project “just doesn’t stack up”.

Mr Coates called for the rebuild to be axed in favour of an opening and closing ceremony at Suncorp Stadium and the athletics at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (formerly QEII Stadium) on the city’s southside.

Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee president Andrew Liveris backed Mr Coates’s comments and slammed the lost time due to squabbling over venue upgrades.

Mr Coates, who is the International Olympic Committee vice-president, said the Olympic movement was now “on the nose in Brisbane” due to failures by the state government and Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee in promoting venue upgrades.

Mr Coates, Mr Liveris, Paralympics Australia president Alison Creagh and Australian Olympic Committee president Ian Chesterman met former lord mayor Graham Quirk, who is in the early stages of a 60-day review of Olympics venue infrastructure.

The proposed Gabba redevelopment for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Picture: Queensland Government

“We’ve put it to the review committee we should abandon the Gabba and we should look for another site for the athletics,” Mr Coates said.

Premier Steven Miles moved to distance himself from the controversial Gabba rebuild driven by his predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk and insisted Mr Quirk would assess whether it provided value for money.

The news sparked furious commentary from readers.

Some claimed it was yet another mistake from Labor.

Others insisted there needs to be alternatives plans.

While some pleaded for the Games to be scrapped completely.

See what you said below and join the conversation >>>

WHAT YOU SAID

What a joke

Robbo

Dithering, dithering and more dithering by all.

Barbara

Usual lack of planning and hopeless decisions Queensland couldn’t run a chook raffle at the moment

Paul

What bombshell, blind Freddy could see this coming

Susan

Qlders are dying, lawlessness is rife. Homelessness is growing at an alarming rate. You can’t receive medical attention in a timely manner. Parents are struggling to provide their children with the basic necessities of life. The issue now is where do all these issues come in order with our out of touch state government. Are the Olympics still no. 1? It is now becoming increasingly clear Palaszczuk and her cohorts pulled the wool over our eyes.

brett

this city is going to have egg on its face comes 2032. embarrassing

International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates with Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Evan Morgan

Too much

Robbo

Ridiculously expensive for no benefits.

Adele

It would be close to $6 billion by the time the Gabba rebuild was finished.

Dr Giggles

Start spending OUR money on things that improve our life, not elite sport for 2 weeks…….

Nathan

Time to invest in health and crime with the money saved

Concept art of the Gabba as Brisbane’s Olympic stadium

Fresh idea!

Peter

Build a new stadium at Victoria Park.

Plenty of space and easy access.

SDF

I support the Nathan redevelopment. The swimming should go there also. Along with a 2 track monorail from Altandi Station. Plenty of under utilised space and all good ideas for long term legacy.

Kym

Finally some sense! The QE2 stadium should have been prioritised for athletics all along. The Gabba redevelopment was a senseless waste of money with so many other urgent priorities.

Al

Building a stadium above Roma Street Station makes even less sense than knocking down the Gabba for rebuild. And why swimming in a temporary pool? If it is built, it should be for basketball, which is sorely needed.

IOC vice-president and former AOC president John Coates

Axe it all

Rodriguez

just cancel them altogether.

Karen

The entire decision to host the Olympics doesn’t stack up

stephen

Cancel the games. Money is desperately needed in education, housing, emergency services, hospitals etc etc etc. This government has lost its mind and focus on reality. It’s become more about the politicians than the good of the state. God I hope LNP have the guts to pull the pin on this ridiculous waste of time and energy.

Farmerp

Nothing about the Olympics stacks up, apart from inflating a few egos.

im calling for the Olympics to be scrapped

Originally published as What you said about John Coates’ call to scrap planned Gabba rebuild